gentry English · revision 805

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈd͡ʒɛntɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gentrie]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) probably an alteration of earlier ''gentrise'', ''gentrice'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|fro|genterise]], a variant of ''gentilise'' “noble birth; gentleness”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from ''gentil'' “high-born, noble” (see [[gentle]]).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The change may have been helped by association with Middle English ''gentlery''.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nobility of rank or birth (about 1303 in Barnhart; c. 1300 in Etymonline; c. 1386 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the word also meant a fashion or custom of the nobility (c. 1325) and nobility of character, courtesy and good breeding (c. 1380),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) senses now archaic or obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The collective sense, “people of gentle birth and breeding”, dates from the 1520s in Etymonline (c. 1585 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In England it came to mean especially the class just below the nobility, often landowners entitled to a coat of arms.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) From 1717 it was used playfully or contemptuously of people of a certain kind, as in ''these hockey gentry'',^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) and in Anglo-Irish ''the gentry'' were the fairies (1880).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Gentrify'' (1973) and ''gentrification'' (1977) are derived from it.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1225 – ''gentrise'', noble birth.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1303 – ''gentry'', nobility of rank.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1380 – good breeding, courtesy.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1585 – people of gentle birth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1717 – people of a certain sort (playful).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880 – the fairies (Anglo-Irish).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1973 – ''gentrify''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # People of gentle birth, good breeding or high social position.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In England, the class of landowners ranking just below the [[nobility]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An upper or ruling class; an [[aristocracy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # People of a particular class or group.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' The rank of a gentleman, or the qualities proper to one, especially courtesy.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gentrify]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gentrification]]

+ * [[gentle]]

+ * [[gentleman]]

+ * [[genteel]]

+ * [[gentile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}